Dear Friends, I know you along with me have seen the homeless men and women standing right off the highway exits with signs like this: "Homeless, disabled, please help. God bless." In our world, we never  know who is honestly in need or not. My husband told me of a news coverage where a "homeless" man was followed after begging at the side of the road, and actually lived in a nice neighborhood and had a very nice house! Talk about shameful! I also have my doubts when I pull up to these people. I often rationalize that if they are truly homeless, they brought it upon themselves. Everyone else has to work hard to have things, why do they get off so easily? I thought that homelessness was really nothing more than a disorder of sorts, where money management and irresponsibility were the real culprits for their situations. But I have been reading a LOT of verses in the Bible lately that talk about charity and giving to the poor. Jesus says we will ALWAYS have the...

If I could capture a picture right now of the inside of my home, it would look like this: Toys, books, and scattered random objects on the living room floor, courtesy of my kids; Open patio door, listening to the fountain outside; Kids playing in their room, me calling the occasional time-out for not listening; Our brand new baby kitty, Kittle, lying on the soft brown rug in the bathroom, asleep; Fading flowers in a vase spread out in different directions, with the pink rose having the biggest, most beautiful bloom. If I could capture a picture of the inside of my thoughts right now, you would see: The anxious anticipation of my husband's return home from his 'man-cation." My dread of the approaching late hour as I wrangle four beings to bed; My reluctancy to pick up all the objects on the floor; My laziness (and frugality) to go turn on the air even though I'm roasting; My wishing my kids had tape over their mouths so they can't call my name ...

I was born and raised in Lansing, MI. I was born on August 23, 1986 at St. Lawrence Hospital. When I was 2 I was taken in by my daycare providers while my parents tried to get on their feet in order to provide for me. When they couldn't, I was adopted at age 5. I don't remember a lot of happiness between 7 and 18, but when I was a sophomore in college I packed my bags and left for school and wiped the dust of that town off my feet. Today I hardly ever return. It is, to me, a ghost town. Every blue moon when I go to visit, I may drive past my old house, they one I was raised in as a child. I see myself playing on the driveway, being careful not to trip on the raised crack. I remember shaking the ant off my shoe while howling loudly as my sister laughed from inside the house. I remember pretending to re-enact the stories of Cinderella in the backyard. And I remember how I used to pretend the giant gnarly tree in the backyard of the house next door (which my pare...

My friends, I have something great to announce: I am happy! Yet I have a twinge in my chest as I announce that, because I am wise enough to know that such a feeling is usually fleeting in such a world as this, but what I resume to say that I have made certain changes and goals for myself that allow me to reach towards happiness on a daily minutia basis. My reservations about happiness include the knowledge that: *The Christian life is not always filled with happiness, but instead pain, constant searching, a denial of self, and giving up of human urges to defend oneself and fight back for the sake of being Christ-like. *Marriage does not = ultimate, immediate, or long-lasting happiness; nor do children. *Family often produces more feelings of pain and heartache, and happiness regarding family is fleeting (in my case anyways) *Opening your heart to friends and family is not always a happy experience, but if your goal is to do so, you must be confident in your feelings ...

It's Saturday morning. I am sitting with my  coffee, apple, and bagel. I am content with my two children across the room playing computer games, and still high from the intimate lovemaking my husband and I shared last night. I am ready to be loved, and I embrace it. I am happy. Why share so much? I am satisfied with food in my belly. I see my babies playing contently. My husband and I are loving to each other. I feel satisfied. That's why I am ready to be loved and ready to embrace it. Daily, I must decide how much I will allow myself to be loved and by whom. Women are notorious for allowing relationships to frustrate and dwindle by placing impossible demands upon their partners for love. Not that women are impossible of being loved by others, or satisfyingly so... women forget that one must self-love to accept outer love. Remember how it felt when your best friend ran to you in school and whispered that someone liked you? You felt giddy, excited, powerful, noticed, and...

Chapter 12 Complete a nagging task.   If you've learned anything about me through previous chapters and journals, you may know this could be a never-ending goal for me.I ALWAYS stay packed to the brim with nagging tasks. Finishing my new Oprah magazine, or starting it for that matter. Taking out chicken to thaw for dinner later. Going to buy a "For Sale" sign for my car. Searching online for coupons or deal-breaker sales. Doing the laundry! I drive myself insane half the time by assigning myself ridiculous tasks with an unrealistic time limit in which to finish it...which leads to me doing nothing and being extremely unproductive. Well, my newest task is to create a 5-year goal plan. The catch is, I'm only allowed to assign myself TWO THINGS per year to accomplish. I want to jump off a bridge figuratively speaking as I type this. TWO THINGS?! How in the world am I to soothe my Type-A personality with only approaching two things at a time? My hope is that by setti...

Ch. 11 Hello my friends! Today I want to share with you a few tidbits I learned recently from a Family Fun workshop through the "Press Pause" women's conference at Valley Family Church. The topics are family and surprisingly, money. What does money have to do with family, you ask? Quite a bit! One of the biggest causes of divorce is financial strain. We've all seen single parents where the mom has three to five kids, works about two jobs, is tired, broke, and short after not receiving child support on time from the dad (or at all), and can't afford to buy her kids everything she wishes to, or else spends all her money trying to compensate for the shortcomings and still ends up with no money for savings or retirement. I went to the workshop seeking more ideas to help my family run smoothly, to help me find ideas for activities for all of us to do that would hopefully not cost a lot of money. I am very cheap. I do not like to spend money very often, and when I d...